Union Savings Bank Trims Stake in Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO)

Union Savings Bank cut its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE:TMO) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,375 shares of the medical research company’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Union Savings Bank’s holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific were worth $715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 1,669 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 426 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Guinness Atkinson Asset Management Inc now owns 11,692 shares of the medical research company’s stock worth $6,083,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD lifted its holdings in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 71,763 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $37,331,000 after buying an additional 12,874 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Willner & Heller LLC boosted its position in Thermo Fisher Scientific by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 431 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. 89.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Stock Performance

Shares of TMO opened at $559.72 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $529.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $568.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $214.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.76. Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has a one year low of $493.30 and a one year high of $627.88.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The medical research company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.25 by $0.03. Thermo Fisher Scientific had a return on equity of 17.49% and a net margin of 14.48%. The firm had revenue of $10.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.69 earnings per share. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. will post 21.68 EPS for the current year.

Thermo Fisher Scientific announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, November 15th that allows the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the medical research company to purchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Thermo Fisher Scientific’s payout ratio is 9.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Thermo Fisher Scientific

In related news, SVP Michael A. Boxer sold 2,000 shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.16, for a total transaction of $1,120,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,134,197.76. This trade represents a 13.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marc N. Casper sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $554.29, for a total value of $5,542,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 121,192 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,175,513.68. This represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 47,150 shares of company stock worth $25,954,465. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TMO. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $647.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from $670.00 to $660.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Thermo Fisher Scientific from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.95.

Thermo Fisher Scientific Company Profile

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc provides life sciences solutions, analytical instruments, specialty diagnostics, and laboratory products and biopharma services in the North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company's Life Sciences Solutions segment offers reagents, instruments, and consumables for biological and medical research, discovery, and production of drugs and vaccines, as well as diagnosis of infections and diseases; and solutions include biosciences, genetic sciences, and bio production to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agricultural, clinical, healthcare, academic, and government markets.